Fun Trivia » Animals » Wild Birds » Wild Birds Australia

The body of an emu has brown plumage that looks shaggy more than feathery. The feathers' tips are black, which help provide insulation against solar radiation. The legs of an emu are free of feathers, while the neck has sparse feathers, which look bluish in color. Difficulty: Easy.

 

white, black, blue

Emu chicks grow quickly, reaching their full adult size within twelve to fourteen months. They will usually stay with their family group for a further six months before leaving to breed and establish their own territories. Difficulty: Hard.

 

two years, ten years, four years

Eclectus parrots are a brightly coloured parrot found in the topical rainforests of Queensland. The colouring of the males and females are completely different. The male is bright green with an orange beak while the female is red with a black beak. They are endemic to Queensland, Australia and has a conservation status of least concern. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Victoria, Northern Territory, New South Wales

Emus live in most habitats across Australia, although there tends to be fewer of them in severe desert areas. The exact population of the bird is unknown; however, it is believed that there are between 600,000 and 750,000 of them living in the country. Difficulty: Easy.

 

South Africa, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea

The male satin bowerbird will not successfully find a mate until he grows black-blue plumage at seven years. Till then, he spends his time practising bower building and displaying.
Fawn-breasted bowerbirds decorates the walls of its bower and platform with green berries, flowers and leaves.
The great bowerbird favours white objects such as shells and bones.
The regent bowerbird paints the bower walls yellow with saliva and juice from crushed leaves and decorates it with red-brown leaves, berries and shells.
Males with the best decorated bower will mate with more females. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Fawn-breasted bowerbird, Great bowerbird, Regent bowerbird

The poor old frogmouth is not the prettiest bird in Australia, but it is a fascinating creature, nonetheless. Like the owl, they are carnivores, feeding on mice, rats, frogs, beetles, etc. Their call is a deep, drumlike 'oom-oom', and they are common across most of the country.

Willy Wagtails are very gregarious flycatchers, and a friarbird is a type of honeyeater. A teal is a species of duck. Difficulty: Average.

 

Willy Wagtails, Noisy Friarbirds, Chestnut Teals

The adult male takes about two years to reach mature colouring, the female is not as colourful. They eat seeds, berries, fruit and nuts and lay three to four eggs in spring or summer. Other names include Southern King Parrot and King Lory. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Superb Parrot, Regent Parrot, Australian Queen Parrot

Members of ratites are birds that are both large and unable to fly. They can be found in places such as Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. Several of these ratites are extinct. Ostriches are another example of a bird in the ratite family. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Ursidae, Castoridae, Felidae

Usually, after eggs are laid, the female will leave in search of another mate. Thus, it's up to the male to incubate and protect the eggs then care for the chicks when they've hatched. Difficulty: Hard.

The orange bellied parrot is a critically endangered parrot which breeds in the far southwest of Tasmania and migrates to Northern Tasmania and King Island. It's a small parrot just larger then a budgerigar. Most of its body is a greenish yellow colour with an obvious orange patch on its belly. The back and wings are a darker green colour with blue tips on the wings. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Extinct, Vulnerable, Least Concern

The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a relative of the African Ostrich (the largest by height), the South American Rhea and the New Zealand Kiwi. It is widespread throughout mainland Australia although the King Island Emu and the Tasmanian Emu have both become extinct since European settlement. The Emu's appearance on the coat of arms is more to do with its being relatively the same size as the kangaroo than to do with any cultural or historic importance. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Ostrich, Rhea, Kiwi

Small stones and pebbles are required by emus to help digest the plants that they eat. After they eat the stones they stay in the gizzard and grind up food as this cannot be done in the mouth as the birds have no teeth. Scientists have also observed that emus also commonly eat charcoal although it is not known why. Difficulty: Easy.

 

They mistake them for plants., To increase their weight., To create better body balance.

This bird is found in dense forests in coastal southeast Australia. The calls of the lyrebird are used to mark out territories, attract females and to keep other males away.
When fully spread out, the superb lyrebird's tail may cover 1.5m square. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Gibberbird, Sulphur -crested cockatoo, Malleefowl

The male lyrebird looks rather unspectacular until he displays his magnificent tail-feathers, which are used to impress the lady lyrebirds. Two large outer feathers form the lyre shape, with wispier brown-white feathers forming the 'strings'.

The lyrebird is also a superb mimic, and can imitate most birds and animal sounds that are heard in the forests.

The spoonbill has a bill roughly the size and shape of a soup spoon, the trumpeter swan is an American bird, and the drummer is actually a fish! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Black Drummer, Trumpeter Swan, Royal Spoonbill

The Laughing or Blue-Winged Kookaburra is one of Australia's most well known birds. Its distinctive call, like wild laughter, is territorial, telling all other Kookaburras that they have a territory and are ready to defend it! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Azure Kingfisher, Little Kingfisher, Kestrel

The female emus fluff their feathers and vocalize with low haunting calls around the male in the attempt of attracting the male to mate. The female will then circle the male whilst looking at him and placing her rear end towards him. Females will fight each other for the attention of a male and can be extremely aggressive in the process. Difficulty: Hard.

 

The male and female mate for life, Both males and females lay the eggs, The eggs incubate themselves.

Budgerigars are mainly green with yellow flakes across their back. They grow to about 20cm and are found in the open bushland across most of Australia where there is access to water. They are sometimes seen in flocks of thousands but are usually seen in smaller groups of up to a few hundred.
Difficulty: Average.

 

Yellow, Blue, White

It's unknown how or when the Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) separated from its northern hemishpere cousins and moved down under. They migrate to follow changing living conditions within mainland Australia but aren't known to 'go overseas'. Apart from their colour, their main difference from other swans is the curved 'S' shape of their neck when resting and they have the longest neck of all swans. They are a protected species (like most Australian wildlife) but not considered particularly endangered.
Difficulty: Easy.

 

Sulpher Crested Cockatoo, Singing Honeyeater, Kookaburra

Emu eggs are typically a dark green colour. The eggs are large in size and are approximately 12 times bigger than a regular chicken egg. The number of eggs that are laid can be dependent on the weather; however, they tend to produce between five and twenty eggs. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Blue, Yellow, White

The oystercatcher chicks learn to get limpets off rocks by copying their parents and become either 'knockers' or 'prisers'. Oystercatchers open bivalves by stabbing the muscles which hold the shells together with their beaks and then levering the shells open. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Purple swamphen, Dusky moorhen, Banded stilts

While the emu is taller, the Southern cassowary is substantially heavier. An imposing looking creature, it sports a horny casque, or helmet, a bright blue neck and wattles similar to a turkey. Like the emu, its main defence is its powerful legs and large, sharp toes that can easily disembowel a human. They stand approximately 2 metres tall, and can weigh over 85 kilograms!

The rhea is native to South America, while the ostrich is African. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Emu, Rhea, Ostrich

Living in pairs or small groups, this Rosella eats seeds, fruit, blossoms and nectar. The Northern Rosella is only found in the Northern Territory and the far north of Western Australia. The Western Rosella is only found in Western Australia and the Green Rosella is only found in Tasmania. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Northern Rosella, Western Rosella, Green Rosella

The male emu builds the nest for the female to lay the eggs. The male emu becomes broody and incubates the eggs, which can take up to eight weeks. The male, during this time, doesn't leave the nest, resulting in him neither eating or drinking during that period and losing a substantial amount of weight. Difficulty: Hard.

 

The female sits on the nest, The eggs are abandoned, The parent birds alternate incubating the eggs

Emus form breeding pairs during summer. However, mating doesn't occur until late autumn or early winter. Difficulty: Hard.

 

September and October, March and April, July and August

The eastern rosella has a red head, neck and breast with yellow/green upper parts and distinguishing white cheek patches. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Green, Yellow, Blue

Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) are commonly referred to as Fairy Penguins by many Aussies and are the only penguin that will breed in Australasia. Nesting pairs can be found along Australia's southern coast and the entire coast of New Zealand. Their numbers are declining, mainly due to predation by animals introduced to Australasia by European settlers such as cats, dogs, mustelids, and foxes. Rumour has it that, after being bitten by a Little Penguin in Australia, Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux computer operating system, decided to use a penguin as a mascot/logo for the OS. Difficulty: Easy.

 

White Cockatoo, Southern Magpie, Southern Longrunner

The brolga is a type of crane that is found in northern and eastern Australia. It eats mainly water plants and tubers, roots of swamp sedges, some insects and crustaceans.
When pairs of male and female brolgas dance, they would shake their wings, bob their heads, leap into the air and make trumpeting noises. These dances help keep the brolgas together particularly during mating season. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Jacana, Sarus crane, Jabiru

This beautiful little wren with a purple crown and blue tail eats insects. It is endangered, found only in the far north of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the far north western corner of Queensland inhabiting dense shrubbery and undergrowth. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Superb Fairy Wren, Fairy Penguin, Splendid Fairy Wren

The outer layer of an emu egg is emerald green and can sometimes appear black. If the outer layer is removed, a teal layer is revealed. Underneath that layer, a person would find a white layer. Altogether, the egg weighs between half a kilogram and one kilogram. Each female emu can lay between 20 and 50 eggs per breeding season.

Because of their color, emu eggs are highly sought after by collectors and by artists who sculpt them into decorative pieces. Difficulty: Hard.

 

tangerine, gold, sky blue

If a male is interested in a parading female, he has a number of ways in which to show it. This includes swaying his body, neck stretching, puffing out his feathers and pecking the ground. If the female sits and raises her rump, it shows the male that she's accepted him as her mate.

However, things can get violent if a female tries to attract the attention of a male who already has a partner, especially if the male shows an interest in the second female. Difficulty: Hard.

 

by kicking or scratching the ground, by singing, by head bobbing

Bourke's parrot is a small parrot which is mostly grey/brown upper half and a pinkish lower half. Its status in the wild is least concern and is found throughout Australia.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened

Also known as the wiero or quarrion, the cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) is widespread throughout Australia. They are non-migratory but are nomadic and follow available water sources like many other Aussie birds. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Sulphur crested cockatoo, Galah, Black cockatoo

A male bustard is about 1.2m tall, has a wingspan of 2.3m and weighs over 8kg. Females are a bit smaller. A courting male bustard will inflate a neck pouch which touches the ground. He swings this from side to side as he stamps and roars to impress a female. They were once common but hunting, predation by feral animals such as pigs and foxes, pesticides and habitat destruction have greatly reduced their numbers. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Black -breasted buzzard, Cassowary, Banded stilt

At one stage the Cape Barren Goose was close to extinction, but careful management has restored a healthy population to various locations along the southern areas of Australia, particularly on the Bass Strait islands.

Roughly the size of a domestic goose, it has a 'honk' sound like that bird, but can also emit a pig-like grunt. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Brilliant white, Off-white with a pink breast, Jet black with white under the wings

This cockatoo eats the seeds of native trees including eucalypts and casuarinas. The male of the species has a rounded crest and large bill and is black in colour with red panels on its tail. The female has yellow spots and bars and its tail panels are more orange than red. The Inland and Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoos differ in habitat and size. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Glossy Black Cockatoo, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Emus eat stones to aid in the grinding of food in their gizzards. This means they have a highly adaptable digestion and can store up to 700 grams of stones in their gizzards at one time. These stones are called gastroliths. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

to strength its bones, to improve its vision, no reason in particular; it's just force of habit

When first laid, the eggs are pale green. As the incubation process progresses, the eggs change to their more recognisable dark emerald colour. Difficulty: Hard.

 

white, brown, blue

The golden-shouldered parrot builds its nests in termite mounds that are at least two meters high and then they will tunnel into a mound after it has been weakened by the rains. The parrots will burrow into the rain-weakened mud and then create a nesting chamber at the end of the tunnel. A clutch of eggs will then be laid in this chamber.

Difficulty: Hard.

 

Tree Hollow, Underground, On the Ground

Roosting together in their hundreds, the Rainbow Lorikeet is blue, red, orange, yellow, green and violet in colour! It inhabits open and rainforests, woodlands, heaths and home gardens and lays two eggs usually in the hollow of a tree between August and January. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Alexandra's Parrot, Red-capped Parrot, Purple-crowned Lorikeet

The emu is incapable of walking backwards. The emu has powerful legs and is the only bird to have a gastrocnemius muscle, which is a large muscle on the back part of the lower leg also found in humans. This enables it to have long strides when walking and an even longer stride of up to nine feet when running. Difficulty: Easy.

 

hopping, skipping, running